Salting the Hides

She had stepped out of her wagon, standing on the platform looking around. It was a bit of a strange sight. Her gaze then went to the woman chained to the wheel, and she sighed. Between captives, slaves and the Ubar's guards, any thought of privacy was quickly fading away. Rook looked to the woman, then back to her with an inquisitive arch of his brow, and she simply said...........Dweller-chuk. He chuckled and placed his quiva in it's holder. A thought came to her, and she pulled her own quiva out of her boot and handed it to him, which prompted another arch of his brow, and again she stated simply. I shaved a slaves head. This brought that low grumble of laughter from the old oralu, and he takes the blade and begins to sharpen it.


She slipped off the platform, and moved to help with getting the guards their meal, and getting ready for another long day. The hides had been scraped of lingering tissue and sinew, and stretched overnight. This morning, the next stage of the curing began. Barrels were set out, and the girls sent to the stream to fetch clean water to fill them half way. She had gone to the fires, having seen her mate there, and watched the girls toil back and forth to the stream to fetch the water.


It was a pleasant time spent there speaking with the woman Kaeli, who she grew to like more and more as they talked. And they did talk of many things. Ba'atar had questioned her as to her past, her children, and her motives for returning to the tribe. She listened carefully to the answers given, and understood them all. The woman had even stated that she knew that returning might end with her in a collar, but she needed to know how Jai was. And her answers to Ba'atar on why she had returned, seemed to satisfy him too.


She also spoke of her affection for Jai, which was no secret, it could be seen in her eyes. It was high time that Jai took a mate, and she expressed her thoughts on this, drawing laughter from Kaeli. She told stories of when they were young,and how they would bedevil each other. This not only gave her an insight into Kaeli, but into Jai too, which was nice in a way. She had always liked the iron master and considered him a friend, and only wished to see him happy.


She had finally returned to her wagons to make sure the hides were all submerged into the barrels of salted water, and weighted down by the large stones that the girls had drug up from the stream. They would stay this way for three days, then the next step would be taken.


While she was involved with this, Trilok returned from his hunt with tabuk, and the whole ritual started again of skinning the carcasses, slicing the meat to be salted or dried, and stretching the skins. Work. It was one of the things that was constant among them. It never ended, but at the end of the day, you could always go to your furs knowing that you had accomplished something. Something that was for the good of the tribe.


Tribe above all.